A Brief History of Idaho and the Old Idaho Penitentiary

The Old Idaho Penitentiary, a historic site of the Idaho State Historical Society, posted this introductory episode of its podcast in September 2024. Over an hour and a half, two staff members work through Idaho’s history – its Native nations, Lewis and Clark, the gold rushes and the founding of Boise as territorial capital – before turning to the prison in the foothills east of the city.

They describe the long argument over who would pay for a territorial prison, the 1870 groundbreaking and the move of the first inmates to the site in 1872, early escapes, and the cell houses inmates built from local sandstone. They cover the era of anti-Mormon politics in the 1880s, the prison’s gallows and executions – the last in 1957 – the women held there, and the riots of 1971 and 1973 that ended with the remaining inmates being moved to a new prison south of Boise in December 1973.

This is the historic site speaking for itself, and its most useful moment for ghost-story fans is a correction: according to staff, the popular image of Boise residents watching executions from the hillsides, repeated on TV, did not happen – attendance was by invitation, although one early hanging drew a crowd of about 250. The real history – ten executions, harsh solitary cells and violent riots – is what the Old Pen’s ghost lore draws on.

It is long and conversational, a recorded podcast rather than a polished documentary, so use the key moments to jump to the parts you want. The same historical society runs the site’s Halloween and after-dark events, which is worth remembering when you hear its ghost stories.